Two games are left and the Thunder now stand at 46-34. I have no idea who shows up in Thunder unis this evening in Miami in a critical game versus the Heat. Long ago I stopped worrying about seeding position with this bunch. What difference does seeding mean when you don’t know which heart will show up on any given night wearing Thunder blue?
I calibrate my emotions carefully with this group of players and no longer put my heart on my sleeve. But I must admit with all the talent Westbrook, George, and Adams bring to the table as an NBA fan in general it’s hard not to take your eyes off them just for the sake of wondering what on any given night will bring.
We’ve seen glimpses of what they can do for a game here and there, but what we’ve never observed this season is consistent commitment to focus and effort. What we’ve seen is a team with attention deficit disorder.
But as you look across the NBA landscape there’s some other disorder out there as well and Steph Curry is missing the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Heck, the hottest team in the league are the surging Philadelphia 76’ers. Take away the Sixers on their current run and no one else in the league with enough talent to make serious noise is closing with a rush.
Toronto, Boston, and Cleveland are playing like teams with no real chance to win the NBA championship beyond the East.
Golden State has the issue with Steph’s fragile ankles. Houston and D’Antoni have never won anything in post season to date. Portland is closing with a thud. San Antonio doesn’t have the horses.
But you know who does have the horses if they could force themselves to focus on things like heart and effort—the threesome of Westbrook, Paul George, and Steven Adams.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s no way I’m putting the Thunder on my Power Poll again, but by the same token it’s hard to ignore these three players being on the same team.
I have no idea what happens tonight in Miami. I have no idea where the Thunder end up being seeded.
But I do know if the Thunder could grow up and stay that way long enough they have the best athlete in the NBA playing point guard. They have probably the third best small forward in the league behind LeBron and Durant in Paul George. And they have in Steven Adams a center who can punish certain teams with interior frailness.
So we’ll see what comes of this and if the Thunder can pretend to play like grownups for a sustained period of time in April.
Anything is possible in sport as we just witnessed Patrick Reed harness his inner self and basically beat the golfing world on Sunday at Augusta National with everybody rooting against him.
Can Russell Westbrook harness his inner self moving forward is the question.